Victoria’s Fairmont Empress crowned best hotel in Canada

Hotels across the country were evaluated for their dreamy qualities, and the Fairmont Empress in Victoria took the cake.

Hotel-Addict.com’s travel writers named 50 of the nation’s best hotels to catch some zzz’s in, combed over for their service, ambiance, style and amenities.

“There’s something about staying in a great hotel. Staff welcome you back and ask about your day and, in a truly great hotel, it’s sincere. It makes you feel special. Canada has an abundance of great hotels and this made the choice particularly difficult,” Janice Tober, the executive director of Hotel-Addict, said in a press release.

The Fairmont Empress was awarded the number one spot after more that $60 million was poured into renovations last year, in honour of the hotel’s 100th anniversary. It’s ode to Great Britain’s royalty — from deep purple-hued decor to English Afternoon Tea many queue for daily — stole the crown as far as Hotel-Addict is concerned.

“In Canada, you can’t get any more British than this,” the list declares.

Also in Victoria, the Magnolia Hotel and Spa scored the 15th spot on the list for its superb downtown location. Four other Vancouver Island hotels were named with the eco-friendly Clayoquot Wilderness Resort taking 18, Wickaninnish Inn at 25, Tofino Resort + Marina at 31 and Courtenay’s Kingfisher Oceanside Resort & Spa at 43.

Seven more B.C. hotels — six in Vancouver and one in Whistler — also made the list.